North Shore Dining Guide: The Best Restaurants on Chicago’s North Shore

The dining scene on the North Shore — so many restaurants, so little time. We’ve made navigating that choice a little easier for you by aggregating our top favorites in one handy list. So what are you waiting for? Time to make some reservations and get down to some serious eating.

This is the spot for incredible, authentic Thai food crafted with an eye toward culinary connoisseurs.

NaKorn opened a year ago with a very specific mission. Owners Sam Rattanopas and Mina Sudsaard wanted to bring authentic Thai food to Evanston—the kind of food they remembered from their childhoods in Thailand—and to clear up a few misconceptions. Thai food can be spicy, but it doesn’t have to be. They also left pad thai off of the menu so that people would have to try something else. It was a great decision.

This is the spot for incredible, authentic Thai food crafted with an eye toward culinary connoisseurs. Everyone needs to try this place.

When NaKorn opened a year ago, it had a very specific mission. Owners Sam Rattanopas and Mina Sudsaard wanted to bring authentic Thai food to Evanston—the kind of food they remembered from their childhoods in Thailand—and to clear up a few misconceptions. Thai food can be spicy, but it doesn’t have to be. They also left pad thai off of the menu so that people would have to try something else. It was a great decision. Our evening at NaKorn was like a tour of exotic comfort food we never knew existed and everything we tasted was absolutely scrumptious.

NaKorn Urban Thai, Aroi Mak Mak

Greater Chicago boasts a large number of Thai restaurants. There are two that have been my absolute favorite: JJ Thai Street Food at 1715 W. Chicago Avenue in West Town for authentic Thai street food and Herb at 5424 N. Broadway Street in Edgewater for refined Thai with 100% authenticity. After most recent visits to NaKorn Urban Thai at 1622 Orrington Avenue in downtown Evanston, it has officially become my third go-to Thai restaurant.

Chicago Food Magazine – September 22, 2017

NaKorn Evanston Celebrates First Anniversary

NaKorn Urban Thai restaurant in Evanston is celebrating its one-year anniversary with a week-long celebration, September 24-30, and the debut of new seasonal menu items.

The new menu items are geared towards fall and winter flavors, such as the Thai Spicy-Sweet Tamarind Glazed Rack of Lamb; a traditional harvest dish including autumn squash, carrots and cauliflower puree.

13 Must-Eat Dishes at Top Chicago Restaurants

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I eat out a fair amount — especially if you follow me on Instagram (@juliechernoff), where I’m dropping food porn on the daily. The pursuit of everything delicious is my chosen profession, after all. A sacrifice must be made, and every pound I gain (and there have been a few this year) is in service to you, our readers. Here are some particularly tasty dishes (and a cocktail or two!) that I’ve enjoyed in the past few months, at restaurants you should definitely check out,

So Here's What We Think...

NaKorn Thai cuisine is adventurous, flavorful and unique. On an unassuming street in more urban than suburban Evanston, NaKorn introduces its customers to Thai foods and flavors beyond the more commonly known pad Thai or other similar noodle dishes. Partners, friends and Thailand natives, Mina and Sam longed for a taste of home and wanted to showcase their Thai favorites…

BUSINESS LUNCH | Sophisticated Thai in Evanston

Over the course of our decades-long love affair with Thai food, we have found the ingredients traditionally associated with it—lemon grass, tamarind, coconut, ginger, peanuts, mint, noodles, lime and chili peppers—addictive in almost any combination. When we go weeks without them, we get restless. Luckily, Thai restaurants abound here, and they’d really have to drop the ball for us to be unhappy. They rarely do.

Celebrate the versatile herb of the year — cilantro coriander

Measured Food Lover – by Pamela A. Allen

Make Time for Bold Authentic Modern Flavors at Evanston's NaKorn

Chicago is a great food city. Neighborhoods throughout the area are filled with restaurants catering to the newest trends. This includes Evanston, a college town on the city’s northern border, a destination for diners throughout Chicagoland.

Thai New Year Celebration

NaKorn Or Whose Authenticity Is It, Anyway?- in PEOPLEMarch 24, 2017 by David Hammond

The women who run Evanston’s NaKorn cook an upscale version of the Thai food they grew up on. Who’s to say that’s not “authentic?”

STREET FOOD IS THE STANDARD OF authenticity by which, for better or worse, food is judged to be worthy of attention. Many new Thai restaurants aspire to serve the food of street vendors—Immm Rice and Beyond (4949 N. Broadway), Four Belly (3227 N. Clark), and, most obviously, JJ Thai Street Food (1715 W. Chicago), all want you to believe that what you’re eating in their dining rooms is what Thai folks eat on the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. But there’s more than one definition of “authentic” as it applies to Thai and other culinary traditions.

Luxury Travel Diary- January 15, 2017

REVIEW: NAKORN URBAN THAI, 12 MILES FROM DOWNTOWN CHICAGO

For a wonderful taste of Thailand the next time you’re in Illinois, NaKorn Urban Thai is the restaurant to try. Offering delicious Thai cuisine in a modern, urban space there is a considerable buzz about the place right now.

NS Modern Luxury- by Julie Chernoff, Winter Issue, January 2017

THAI ONE ON

15 Fab Fall Chicago Restaurant Openings

Co-owners (and best friends since their school days in Thailand) Sam Rattanopas and Mina Sudsaard have created something unique and special in Evanston, and I absolutely love it. This isn’t your typical Thai restaurant;

LTH FORUM – Chicago Food Chat, December 14, 2016

NaKorn - Upscale Contemporary Thai in Evanston

Last night we had dinner at NaKorn, the newly-opened upscale Thai restaurant in downtown Evanston. In a nutshell, we loved it!

This is absolutely NOT your cookie-cutter neighborhood Thai restaurant. You won’t find any of those oh-so-familiar dishes – no pad thai, no satay, no curry. What you will find are a lot of great dishes that you won’t find elsewhere around town. So without further ado, here’s what we had:

New in Town: NaKorn Open in Evanston

NaKorn, a traditional Thai restaurant, celebrated its grand opening in early November. Owners Mina Sudsaard and Sam Rattanopas have been best friends since third grade and immigrated to the United States from Bangkok in 1996. Believing that authentic Thai food shouldn’t just be found in Thailand,

Zagat – The Zagat Review

NaKorn Kitchen

Evanston Round Table – November 30, 2016

NaKorn Opens on Orrington Avenue

NaKorn, which means “Metropolitan” in Thai, officially opened its doors to Evanstonians last month. The restaurant started, the owners say, “with our belief that authentic Thai food should be found not only in Thailand, but here, as well.”

Owners Mina Sudsaard and Sam Rattanopas have been friends since they were in third grade in Bangkok, according to the Daily Northwestern. Now, they are bringing homestyle Thai food to Evanston with the new restaurant that officially opened at 1622 Orrington Ave. just this month.

EVANSTON - NaKorn Kitchen, a new Thai restaurant,

NaKorn Kitchen, the Thai restaurant at 1622 Orrington Ave. in Evanston, has been open for a while, but the owners are planning a week-long grand opening celebration, starting with a ribbon cutting by the mayor Friday afternoon.

Chicago Tribune – By Adam Lukach, October 7, 2016

EVANSTON - NaKorn Kitchen, a new Thai restaurant,

soft-opened on Sept. 24. The selection is currently limited to a “Pre-Grand Opening” menu featuring dishes such as roasted duck breast and tofu steak. Drinks include Thai beers and a selection of cocktails. NaKorn hopes to celebrate its grand opening by the beginning of November, said a rep for the restaurant. 1622 Orrington Ave., Evanston, 847-733-8424, www.nakornkitchen.com.

Chicago Eater – By Ashok Selvam and Daniel Gerzina, October 7, 2016

6 New Chicago Restaurant To Try

Evanston – Eaters near Northwestern have a new Thai option in NaKorn Kitchen. It’s currently serving an abbreviated menu that includes roasted duck beast slow-cooked in clear broth with shiitake mushrooms, coconut, confit daikon and cilantro;